Hosiery



C. P. BERG May 12, 1964 HOSIERY Original Filed Oct. 17, 1956 LOOSELY KNIT, RAW NYLON YARN RELATIVELYTIGHTLY KNIT PRE-SHRUNK NYLON YAR INVENTOR. CHESTER R BERG '5 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,132,496 HOSlERY Chester P. Berg, iiirdsboro, Pa, assignor to Manor Hosiery Mills, Inc., Birdsboro, Pa.

Original application Oct. 17, 1956, get. No. 616,447, now Patent No. 3,029,622, dated Apr. 17, 1962. Divided and this application Dec. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 79,103

1 Claim. (Cl. 66-178) This invention relates to circular knit hosiery. The present application is a division of my application Ser. No. 616,447 filed October 17, 1956, now Patent No. 3,029,622, dated April 17, 1962.

The conventional method of knitting ladies seamless hosiery in circular knitting machines is to use preshrunk yarn, such as preshrunk nylon yarn, for knitting the welt portion, as well as other portions, so that high temperatures encountered in subsequent operations, such as the dyeing and pre-boarding operations, will not cause further shrinkage of the yarn. While the use of preshrunk nylon yarn avoids the disadvantages of later shrinking of the yarn and of the welt, which would cause discomfort to the wearer, it has the outstanding disadvantage of requiring expensive yarn material since preshrunk nylon yarn is rather costly. Furthermore, the use of preshrunk nylon yarn does not permit SlllfiClGIlt stretchability in the Welt portion, therefore is disadvantageous since substantial flexibility is a desideratum in the welt to give wearing comfort and eliminate formation of welt impressions on the wearers legs. Furthermore, preshrunk nylon yarns still cause certain defects in the welt, such as distorted stitches, sometimes referred to as crows feet or hen tracks resulting in unattractive and imperfect hosiery.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel circular knit hosiery construction of the seamless type, particularly the welt or shadow-welt portions thereof, which will overcome the above stated disadvantages.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel method of knitting and a novel tension controlling attachment for a circular knitting machine, which will enable the use of Very inexpensive yarn in its raw state, that is, without preshrinking, and thus considerably reduce the cost of making ladies hosiery, and simultaneously improve the quality of the hosiery.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a novel tension controlling attachment for a circular knitting machine which will enable loose knitting with raw yarn for making the welt portion of the ladies seamless hosiery, thereby providing a considerable increase in stretchability of the welt, as compared to knitting with preshrunk nylon yarn under tension, and giving an amazingly high degree of comfort to the wearer.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide, in a tension control device for any seamless knitting machine, a tension control means responsive to operations of the yarn feeding finger so as to effect loosening of the tension when raw yarn is being knitted to form the welt portion, or shadow-welt portion, and so as to effect tightening of the tension when it is not being knitted.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a study of the following specification taken with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

The single figure shows a ladys circular knit stocking which may be knit by the machine shown in my above mentioned Patent No. 2,896,435, or by other suitable ma- Patented May 12, 1964 "ice chines. The stocking embodying the present invention comprises a loosely knit welt portion 1 of nylon yarn or other raw yarn and a relatively tightly knit leg, ankle and foot portion 2, 3, 4 of relatively tightly knit, preshrunk nylon or other raw yarn. The foot portion has heel and toe reinforcing 5 and 6, respectively.

By knitting the welt portion, or shadow welt portion with raw nylon yarn or other raw yarn, without tensioning, there will be produced a very stretchable welt portion having at least about 2 inches or more additional stretch than in preshrunk nylon welts. More specifically, the stretch is extended from perhaps 11 /2 inches to as much as 14 or 14 /2 inches. Furthermore the loose knitting by raw nylon yarn eliminates slack and looping and helps to bring the yarn under the binder. It also eliminates the necessity of preboarding and prevents crow feet, and similar knitting imperfections. Considerably increased stretchability of the Welt of the finished hosiery results in an amazingly greater comfort in wear. And by using raw yarn of any linear polyamide, such as nylon, or of other synthetic material, the cost of throwing is eliminated, as well as the cost for preshrinking and twisting of the welt yarn. In short, the cost of making the stocking or other knit fabric is considerably reduced, whereas the quality is considerably increased, particularly as to stretchability of the welt and elimination of imperfect knitting, such as crow feet and the like.

While the loose, raw yarn has been described above for the making of the welt or shadow-welt portion of seamless hosiery it may be used for knitting full fashioned hosiery, also it should be noted that such yarn may also be knitted to form other portions of a stocking, and, in fact, if desired, the entire stocking, or perhaps other fabrics wherein stretchability is desired, as Well as low cost in manufacture, for example ladies under garments, such as girdles, brassieres, and the like. Of significant importance is the addition of a tension compensator etc. which eliminates varying tensions and thread distortions in the knitting hosiery.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel ladys stocking including a welt portion of very inexpensive raw yarn, such as raw nylon yarn, therefore considerably reducing the cost of manufacture of such stockings and greatly increasing the stretchability, wearing comfort and perfection of the knit.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A finished ladys circular knit, seamless stocking comprising a welt portion of loosely knit, raw nylon yarn and comprising a leg portion of relatively tightly knit, preshrunk nylon yarn, whereby the welt portion will have substantial stretchability.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,251,268 Clawson Sept. 5, 1941 2,267,199 Hathorne Dec. 23, 1941 2,396,166 Faucette Mar. 5, 1946 2,921,455 Furge Jan. 19, 1960 3,023,594 Mahler Mar. 6, 1962 

